Rise of the Rogues
First story in my series, War of the Rogues. Enjoy! Rise of the Rogues/Main Characters|Main Characters Rise of the Rogues/Prologue|Prologue Rise of the Rogues/Chapter One|Chapter One Rise of the Rogues/Chapter Two|Chapter Two Rise of the Rogues/Chapter Three|Chapter Three Prologue The forest was still and silent. The stars twinkled coldly in the night sky. Near the edge of the forest, a golden-and-ginger tom sat, his tail flicking impatiently. The bushes shook and parted, breaking the silence of the night, as a huge grey she-cat padded through. The tom growled. "About time you got here. Did the meeting go well?" The she-cat nodded. "They say that they're willing to fight, as long as they get a good part of the forest." The toms tail stopped twitching. "And you said?" "I told them that we would give them a part of the forest would be theirs if they helped us defeat the Clan." The tom nodded approvingly. "Good. When did they say that we could meet again?" The she-cat looked up at the moon, only a claw-scratch in the sky. "They said at this half-moon." "And how about some cats from out Clan? Are they willing to rebel?" He inquired. "I've gotten Leafshade and Mudfang saying that they will fight with us. I'm planning on asking Branchfall and Spottedfeather soon." The tom started flicking his tail again. "And remember, if they don't agree, just kill them. That way they won't go tattling to Stonestar." He growled. The she-cat nodded and smiled evilly. "Soon, there will be no DarkClan. And we can rule the forest." Chapter One "Hey, Thrushflight!" Redfire yowled from behind her. Thrushflight turned around and saw Redfire padding quickly over to her. "Stonestar asked me to lead a border patrol. Wanna come?" Thrushflight shrugged. "Okay. I guess." Redfire nodded. "Okay then! Come on!" She dashed over to the exit of camp. Snowheart was sitting there with his apprentice, Icepaw. As Thrushflight and Redfire padded over, the young apprentice rolled his eyes. "Finally you're here. Can we go now?" Snowheart cuffed his apprentice over the ear. "Be patient! They've only been gone for a few moments." He looked up at Redfire. "Can we go out now?" Redfire nodded. "Let's go out by the StreamClan border." She led the patrol out, Icepaw grumbling under his breath. As they walked by the StreamClan border, Icepaw looked over. "What does it look like in StreamClan territory?" Snowheart shrugged. "We don't know, and we don't really want to know, either." Icepaw nodded absentmindedly. Thrushflight walked over and marked her scent on the border. Redfire padded father down the border and marked her scent over there. Thrushflight walked over there, Snowheart close by. "Hey! Get off of our side!" Thrushflight turned around and saw three large StreamClan warriors bristling, surounding Icepaw. The small apprentice looked terrified. "I didn't cross your border!" He spat. The largest warrior, whom Thrushflight recognized as Blackstripe, the StreamClan deputy, snarled. "Really? Because you are right now!" He unsheathed his claws. Thrushflight looked closer and noticed that Icepaw was, in fact, over the borderline. Amazing. She thought StreamClan was right for once Snowheart dashed over and growled at Blackstripe. "He's only an apprentice! Didn't you ever make mistakes as an apprentice?" Thrushflight padded over and growled, rolling her eyes. "No, he was always absolutely perfect, wasn't he?" She snorted sarcastically. Snowheart looked over at her in exasparation. Looking back at Blackstripe, he mewed. "I am sorry that this apprentice crossed the border. He will not do this again." He gave a stern look at Icepaw. Blackstripe snorted. "Why should we trust DarkClan cats?" He snarled. Thrushflight sighed. "Look, you're making this harder than it should be. He crossed the border. It isn't like he walked into your camp and killed your leader." Blackstripe snarled. "Fine. But next time any DarkClan cat crosses the border, they're going to wish they had never been kitted." He padded away, the other two cats following close behind. Snowheart turned to Icepaw. "Why did you cross the border?! DIdn't you smell the StreamClan scent?!" Icepaw crouched down, his white pelt standing on end. "I didn't know!" He exclaimed. "I thought I was still on our side of the border!" Snowheart looked like he was ready to claw his apprentice when Redfire walked in between them. "Stop it, Snowheart." She mewed calmly. "I think he has learned his lesson already. Also, it was you who said that apprentices make mistakes." She pointed out. Snowheart growled. "Fine." He spat. "But if he crosses the border again, it's not only going to be StreamClan who'll rip his pelt off." Thrushflight sighed. "How about we go now before someone else makes StreamClan hate us again." She mewed. Snowheart nodded. "Yeah! Let's do that."He agreed a bit too quickly. Thrushflight looked at him, confused. Why was he always so quick to agree with her? She shook her head''. That doesn't matter. Let's just get this patrol over with.'' Redfire padded back into the forest. "Come on." She called over her shoulder. Thrushflight and Snowheart followed her. As they padded through the dense forest, Redfire stopped abruptly. "Wait. There's rogue scent here." Snowheart nodded in agreement. "Let's follow it for a while." He mewed. Thrushflight sniffed the ground. There was, in fact, rogue-stench there. "But it's only there. The scent isn't anywhere else." She mewed, realizing. "What?" Icepaw said, disbelief in his mew. He walked over and sniffed the ground right next to her. His eyes widened. "How did they do that?" He mewed a few moments later. Snowheart shrugged. He looked as amazed as Icepaw. "I don't know." Thrushflight rolled her eyes. "Well, how about we go back to camp and go tell Stonestar ''instead of sitting around here waiting for answers?" She mewed. "Okay!" Snowheart mewed. "I- I mean, yeah, let's head back to camp." He corrected. Thrushflight stared at him. "Okay then." She mewed slowly. Redfire turned around and padded in the direction to camp. Thrushflight, Icepaw and Snowheart followed, Snowheart cursing under his breath. Chapter Two The brown tabby weaved between the trees. His nosed twitched, smelling a mouse. He dropped into a hunters crouch, slowly padding up to the small creature. When he bunched up to leap, something rustled in the ferns behind him. The mouse scuttered away. "Mouse-dung!" The tom growled. He turned around to see what had made that noise that had scared away his mouse. A huge shaggy grey she-cat sat there. "Wolfpelt." The tom growled. "Did you ''have to scare of my mouse?" Wolfpelt rolled her eyes. "You don't need to catch every mouse, Branchfall." Se growled in her deep, gravelly voice. "Don't you ever hate having to hunt for the Clan? Do you ever want to follow your own rules, and not the warrior code?" Branchfall shrugged. "Sometimes. When I get annoyed of having to hunt all the time." Wolfpelt leaned in closer. "Don't you ever want to get rid of the Clans?" She mewed quietly. Branchfall looked surprised and shocked. "No! Why would I want to!" He narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Are you going to-" The last thing he saw was Wolfpelt leaping at him and slashing his throat. (I know, it's a short chapter :/ sorry!)